KOMTAR
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KOMTAR (Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak), or more accurately KOMTAR Tower (Menara KOMTAR in Malay) is Penang's tallest building and the sixth tallest building in Malaysia. It is located in the heart of George Town. When this skyscraper topped out (reached full height during construction phase), it was the tallest building in Asia. However, when it was fully completed, it was surpassed by Seoul's Korean Life Insurance Building (KLI 63 Building). The 65-storey tower is a 12-sided geometric block measuring 760ft (232m) tall, sitting atop a 4-storey podium. The complex comprises office and retail commercial space, and public and recreational facilities.
KOMTAR occupies an 11-hectare site and is the single most ambitious urban renewal project undertaken by Penang Development Corporation, the development arm of the Penang state government. The master plan is divided into five phases for implementation. The name of the complex is in honour of the second Prime Minister of Malaysia, the late Tun Abdul Razak bin Hussein. Incidentally, the first piling of the building's phase one is done by Tun Razak himself on 1 January 1974. Part of the complex's first phase podium block was completed in 1978.
Today, the five phases of development are still in various stages of completion:
- Phase 1 (completed 1986)
- 65-storey KOMTAR Tower office block, which primarily houses the Penang state's government offices, is completed with a helipad on its mechanical roof.
- Geodesic Dome named Dewan Tunku, which functions as a multi-purpose hall.
- 17-storey international hotel.
- Part of a 4-storey shopping podium.
- Public buses interchange.
- Phase 2A (completed 1986)
- Remainder of the 4-storey shopping podium comprising comprising department stores, shoplots, squash courts, banking hall, restaurants and food court.
- 11-storey car park.
- Phase 2B
- Parcel of land sold to a local retail chain for development of retail commercial.
- Construction began around the same time as Phase 4 Prangin Mall (see below) in 1997. However, project has since been put on hold following soil subsidence affecting surrounding areas. Prangin Mall development was later identified to be the most probable cause of the subsidence.
- Phase 3
- Parcel of land sold to a local conglomerate for development of retail commercial.
- Phase 4 (completed 2000)
- Prangin Mall is linked to Phase 1 and Phase 2A by two enclosed steel-glass pedestrian bridges.
- Mall comprises department store, retail commercial shoplots, banking hall, restaurants and multi-screen cineplex.
- Phase 5
- Earmarked for commercial use but revised in 2002 to include a transportation hub.
[edit] Other KOMTAR
Another building bearing the same name was also built in Johor Bahru and it consists of a 25-storey office tower block and a double storey shopping complex.
[edit] Current issue
KOMTAR today is a dilapidating building as the state government offices will be moved to Bayan Mutiara, a new locale down south. Untowardly, this has become a hush-hush affair as to what is to be done with a monolithic structure.
Opposition MPs called this once iconic landmark as an "imposing structure [which] now serves as a colossal reminder to uncompleted projects under the 5-phase Komtar master plan".
 Skyscrapers in Malaysia |
|
|---|---|
| Completed: | Alor Star Tower • Berjaya Times Square • Dayabumi Complex • KOMTAR • Kuala Lumpur Tower • Kerinchi Pylon • Maxis Tower • Maybank Tower • Menara Mesiniaga • Menara Telekom • Millenium Tower • Petronas Twin Towers • RTM Tower |
| Under construction: | Kuala Lumpur Pavillion |
| Construction suspended: | Plaza Rakyat |
| Proposed: | Selangor Triple Towers |
